1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, a portable electronic device, an access apparatus for the portable electronic device, as well as a method of using a memory space. The present invention can be applied to, for example, a system employing non-contact IC cards. More particularly, the present invention is intended to enable an IC card to be used for a plurality of business organizations in common by assigning, to each business organization, both issuer key information managed by a management sector and an access key, which is created based on file key information specific to the business organization, so that the business organization can access the portable electronic device using the assigned access key.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an earlier developmental IC card system, various items of information, such as personal data, are recorded in an IC card carried with a person, and the IC card is used, for example, when the person passes through ticket gates at stations or enters a room that is under management allowing only qualified persons to enter and exit it.
Meanwhile, there are other card-shaped mediums similar to IC cards. For example, prepaid cards, service cards issued by individual shops, user cards issued by individual software makers, etc. have been used increasingly.
Those cards, including IC cards, are separately issued to users by business organizations that provide respective services on the basis of the specific cards.
An IC card, however, incorporates an internal memory having a capacity enough to record therein personal information and other data that are necessary for receiving various services with the card. From this point of view, it is conceivable to make one IC card usable for a plurality of business organizations in common.
By making an IC card so usable in common, the business organizations, which have individually issued IC cards up to date, are released from the burden of issuing the cards by themselves, while they can get a larger number of users who cannot be gained when each business organization issues one card separately as conventional. On the other hand, since the number of cards to be carried with and managed by a user is reduced, the user is also released from an inconvenience in carrying and managing many cards.
However, when an IC card is used for a plurality of business organizations in common, personal information of a user must be kept confidential for each of the business organizations. It is also required to manage a memory space employed by each business organization in terms of time and area.